Method and means of pulling pipe from a well



C. R. OWENS Dec. 1, 1953 METHOD AND MEANS OF' PULLING PIPE FROM A WELL.ll

Filed July 21, 1951 removed"frmithefweu MTHODNDMEANS'OFLPULLINGBIE iyFRoM A'fWELL the pipe. becomes' stuck vafter `-a certainlength beenpulled from""thef-well and consequently, the l"entire stavingl fofipipecanl-seldom, iff evenabe HAnobj ect of my inventionis toprovideiavmetnjo`d1 abridin'eanswhereby aJ pull can bei4 exerted on thepipe'and this pullcan then 'be suddenly-'freleased causing adownwardfjar or yjerk onfthe "pipeofl considerable-intensity, thus;loosening. the piple r'and v4'permitting a'-` greater quantity ther-eeri .tobe Vreinoved'from theiwell.

'Another 'object of my invention lis to provide "a'fnovel methodfandunea-ns Yof removing "Bille `pfrvrn anA oil'wellin which anupwarqapush Aor i pull isexertedon theipipeof -an-intens1ty A of` lessthan that which `@will lcause"thepipe'i-to parti and thensuddenlyvrelinquishing the pull or push on the pipe and permittingthepipe to drop downwardly, thus causing a' 'downward jar which-'willrelease the'pipefromitsaattachment'in the formations-and then by asubsequent upwardpull -fafgreater.quantity ofwthe pipeor casing .fcanibe.removed-,from theV well.

.Still-another object of my inventionistoA pro- .-videanovel means ofremovingpipe fromla well, vwllchconsists in exerting anupward force-on acollar which is attached to the pipe which is being removed through amedium of shearable pins and causing these pins to shear under a knownstress.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a novel method andmeans of pulling pipe from'a well which is effective in operation andwhich will materially increase the amount of pipe which is recoverablefrom a well.

Other objects, advantages and features of invention may appear from theaccompanying drawing, the subjoined detailed description and theappended claims.

In the drawing: Y

Figure lis a side elevation of my apparatus used in removing pipe from awell.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view of the pulling`collar attachment, A l Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 showingthe pins as having been sheared.

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on lineV 4-4 of Figure 2. l

Referring more particularly to the drawing.

F11 which align --With the -bores i 5 and `permi shearpins -8 Ltolbedriven into-the-bores 5- nd'ffl, lthus' holding lthe collar 3 -and the"sleeve coupled? arrangement as show-n vin *Figure' 2.- f A short`length of l' tubing 9fisthreadedlor'fotherwise` vattached torthefbottomorhthe-sleeve 4(i. 4`:The Stube 9 is spaced vfrom-the pipe or`casingj*sub- J-stantially`r`- as i shown. `Aspider or ring *i0 sur-A*the numeral \I indicates'- thefiioor' ofthe derrick -or the ysurface`of l-the ground, `and the-numeral 2 indicates 'the casi-ngy'or pipeLwhich =extends downwardly into *the "well and-in Lthe-case-aifYan foilfwellfthisv casing' `or pipe* extends downwardly `fiormany'thousandsofieet. 4Sincepipe creas-ing :is now dicult to -obtain itv'is very` desirable to remove as much off-thispipeforfcasingifromiftheywell as vpossible and each i additional 'vthousand Iffeet of removedpipeY *hasfa Vy-distinctvalue VThecasing 2 is normally at the surfaceofkthe fore,I can be grasped -and pullediupwarldiy, #all *My methodincludes the use-'ofi 'acollar' `A sleeve-6 Ysurrounds collar -3 so4#that the shear-ing action2 ybetweentlfle -sleeve andV the Icollar on fthepins Atwill be more A effective and as -w-ill-besubsequentlydescribed.

rounds the tube 9 and shoulders against the bottom of the sleeve 6.

The spider IB may include slips, if desired, for the purpose of grippingthe tube 9 or the lower end of the sleeve 6. A pair of armsk I I-I2project horizontally from the spider I0, and a hydraulic jack or similarlifting device I3-I4 engages the arms I I-I 2, respectively, thusexerting an upward force against the arms III2, the spider I0, and thesleeve 6.

When the pipe 2 is stuck in the well and after upward pull will fail tomove it; the parts are assembled, as shown in Figure l, that is, thecollar 3 is attached to the top of the casing, the sleeve 6 is placedaround the collar, and the `shear pins 8 are driven in place, as shown.The

is hindering its upward movement. Thereafter the casing 2 is thengrasped and pulled from the well in the usual manner.

At times it might be possible that the casing 2 would drop downwardlyinto the well when the pins are sheared and, therefore, a means isprovided to catch the casing and prevent it from falling downward greatdistances into the well. This includes a short length of pipe I5, whichscrews into the upper end of the collar 3. A coupling I6 may be providedat the upper end of the pipe I5, and an elevator l1 encircles the pipeI5, this elevator being supported from the travelling block I8 by usuallinks I9. The pipe I5 can push upwardly through the elevator I'I andstill if the casing 2 tends to drop downwardly to a greater extent thanis necessary this casing would be caught by the coupling I6 engaging theelevator I1.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. The method of removing stuck pipe from a Well consisting of rstconnecting a sleeve to the pipe by means of shear pins, then pullingupwardly on the sleeve to impart an upward strain on the pipe suflicientto shear said pins, thus suddenly releasing the connection between thesleeve and the pipe to allow the pipe to drop into the well,independently engaging said pipe to permit only a predetermined dropthereof into the well, and then removing the pipe from the well.

2. A means to remove pipe from a well, comprising a collar xedly mountedon the top of the pipe, a sleeve encircling the collar, shear pinsextending through the collar and into the sleeve, means engaging andsupporting the sleeve to exert an upward pull thereon, said pins beingsheared at a predetermined stress thereon to permit said pipe toretract, and means adapted to engage said pipe to support said pipeindependently of said iirst named means after said pins are sheared andthe pipe is retracted.

3. A means to remove pipe from a well, comprising a collar xedly mountedon the top of the pipe, a sleeve encircling the collar, shearable Ameans connecting the collar and the sleeve, a spider engaging andsupporting the sleeve, and hydraulic jacks engaging the spider to exertan upward pull thereon suiicient to release said means connecting thecollar and the sleeve, said l means being released at a predeterminedstress thereon to permit said pipe to retract, and means adapted toengage said pipe to support said pipe 4 independently of said firstnamed means after the means connecting the collar and the sleeve aresheared and the pipe is retracted.

4. A means to remove pipe from a well, comprising a collar xedly mountedon the top of the pipe, a sleeve encircling the collar, shearable meansconnecting the collar and the sleeve, means engageable with the sleeveto exert an upward pull thereon, said shearable means being sheared at apredetermined stress thereon to permit said pipe to retract, and meansadapted to engage said pipe to support said pipe independently of saidsleeve after said shearable means are sheared and the pipe is retracted.

5. A means to remove pipe from a well, comprising a collar iixedlymounted on the upper end of the pipe, a sleeve fitting over the collar,said sleeve and collar having alignable bores therein, shear pinsextending into said bores and connecting said sleeve and collar, saidpins being sheared at a predetermined stress thereon to permit said pipeto retract, and means adapted to engage said pipe to support said pipeindependently of said sleeve after said pins are sheared and the pipe isretracted, means engageable with the sleeve to exert an upward pullthereon, said pull being sufricient to shear the pins, said meanscomprising a spider engaging the sleeve, and hydraulic jacks bearingagainst the spider to press said spider upwardly against the sleeve.

6. The method of removing stuck pipe from a well, which consists infirst connecting the pipe and a sleeve surrounding the pipe witha'shearable connection, then pulling upwardly on the sleeve to impart anupward strain on the pipe and until the shearable connection is brokento allow the pipe to drop downwardly into the well, independentlyengaging said pipe in addition to the support of the sleeve to permitonly a predetermined drop thereof into the well, and then removing thepipe from the well.

CECIL R. OWENS.

References Cited in the le oi this patent UNITED sTATEs PATENTS NumberNam Date 1,482,163 Streda Jan. 29, 1924 1,929,055 Carr Oct. 3, 19332,078,426 Sweet Apr. 27, 1937 2,410,262 Breaux Oct. 29, 1946 2,508,285Otis et a1. May 16, 1950

